PARTICULARITIES OF FORMING DEMOCRATIC TRADITIONS IN POLAND AND UKRAINE (THE LATE 1980S – THE MID-1990S OF THE 20TH CENTURY)

Abstract

The study analyzed the peculiarities of the processes of birth and development of the democratic traditions of Poland and Ukraine in the period of the late 1980s – mid-1990s and clarified the main differences in the democratic transformations that took place in Poland and Ukraine. The democratic transition, which began in the countries of the socialist camp of Central and Eastern Europe, served as a response to the totalitarian rule of political regimes, to the inefficiency of the existing system of management and management. It was found that the democratic changes in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe did not have a single universal model of the formation of democracy, their transit took place under the influence of historical and cultural factors with the strengthening of ethnic and national issues. The process of change involved liberal political approaches, institutionalization of civil rights and freedoms; liquidation of former political institutions; democratization of the new political regime; social adaptation of citizens to the new system. The transition of the post-Soviet space to democracy was caused by: the low legitimacy of authoritarian regimes and economic failure, the emergence of a significant number of educated middle class, socio-political polarization, changes in the politics of external actors. The main directions of changes in the political system of Poland are determined: affirmation of the foundations of pluralism in the political sphere; legalization of political opposition, constitutional separation of powers; formation of institutions of democratic parliamentarism. Polish statehood was based on the historical prerequisites of support for democratic socialism, compromise of elites, pluralistic views in the political sphere, support for market reform, legalization of political opposition, establishment of institutions of democratic parliamentarism. The totalitarian legacy in Ukraine during the period of implementation of democratic changes inhibited the formation of effective state institutions and a powerful national community, and subsequent democratization did not take into account national specificities, revealed the ungovernability of liberal approaches, resulting in the long-term dominance of communist political forces.